27 million children out of school in four Asian countries

UNICEF and UNESCO Institute for Statistics study
reveals staggering number of children out of school in South
Asia and reasons for exclusion

Kathmandu (29 JANUARY 2014) –
A new study released today by UNICEF’s Regional Office for
South Asia and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)
finds that a staggering 27 million children between the ages
5-13 are out of school in four countries of South Asia.

The “Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children –
South Asia Regional Study covering Bangladesh, India,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka” shows there are 17 million primary
school-age children who are not in school in these four
countries. Another 9.9 million lower secondary school-age
children are also not attending school bringing the total to
27 million.

Despite such figures impressive achievements
in improving basic school enrolment rates have been seen in
these countries over the past decade, notably in Sri Lanka
where there are only 70,000 children out of school.

The
study is part of the global initiative launched in 2010 by
UNICEF and UIS. The goal of the initiative is to make a
significant and sustainable reduction in the number of
children out of school around the world.

Out of the 26
participating countries globally, the four South Asia
countries took part in the first phase of the initiative.
The South Asia study aims to understand the scale of the
problem in the four countries and in the
region.

“Children who are not in school lose the
opportunity to learn and this takes a huge toll on the rest
of their lives. No school, no school records and therefore
invisible children for decision makers,” said Karin
Hulshof, Regional Director of UNICEF in South Asia.

“We
hope this study will equip countries with the knowledge and
methodology to better understand who the children excluded
from education are, eventually resulting in better solutions
to the problem,” she added.

The study shows that deeply
entrenched inequalities are the main roadblocks keeping
children out of school in South Asia. Reasons for children
being out of school include poverty, social and cultural
norms, conflict, emergencies and disasters. Children from
rural areas, particularly girls, and from urban slums,
ethnic minorities, children with disabilities and child
labourers face the greatest risk of being denied their right
to education. This information is crucial for making
informed policies and decisions to reach these excluded
children.

“By better identifying who these children are
and the challenges they face, we can take concrete and
effective steps to reach them,” said Albert Motivans, Head
of Education Indicators and Data Analysis at the
UIS.

Based on findings, the study urges policy makers
to:

• ensure that children out of school or at risk of
dropping out receive special attention and more resources
from the Ministries of Education

• ensure sufficient and
quality education programs in which children out of school
can participate

• ensure more and better schooling
together with social protection schemes such as scholarships
to address multiple barriers to schooling

The release of
the study coincides this year with the 25th anniversary of
the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). On this
occasion, UNICEF will also launch the State of the World’s
Children 2014 in Numbers: Every Child Counts – Revealing
disparities, advancing children’s rights. These
publications are valuable references and drivers for change
for the hardest to reach and most vulnerable children.

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